A Loyal Hillbilly

It has been a while since the Yankee Doodle Spies mentioned the Loyalists – those very proper Americans who remained loyal to the King and Britain during times of political upheaval and bloody war. Usually, these folks were conservative and well-mannered. But they did have their share of tough characters. One of these was a notorious and stubborn orphan from the backwoods of the Carolinas.

Life in the Back Hills

David Fanning was born in Birch Swamp, Amelia County, Virginia, in 1755. In July 1764, Fanning was orphaned. As a result, the young David was bound to Needham Bryan (Bryant), a county justice in Johnson County, North Carolina. The justice provided for his education but was, by Fanning’s account, harsh. Or maybe young David was a bit of a handful. So, in 1773, when Fanning was 18 and of legal age, he left his guardian and moved to Raeburn’s Creek in the western part of South Carolina. There, the young man farmed and traded with the nearby Cherokee Indians. Although life on the frontier was not easy, it was reasonably good for the enterprising young David Fanning.

Fanning in the backcountry

Things started to shift when the American Revolution erupted in 1775. At that time, Fanning was a company sergeant in the Upper Saluda militia of South Carolina. Most upcountry Carolinians sympathized with the crown and viewed the lowland planters and merchants with suspicion. Tensions arose. A delegation from the lowlands forged a fragile truce, which was broken when a local Loyalist was arrested in November. Soon, rumors spread that the rebels were recruiting the Indians to their cause. That was it. After being accosted and robbed by patriot militias, Fanning chose to align with the local Loyalist faction.

Fighting for the King

David Fanning served under Major Joseph Robinson during military operations in western South Carolina. He was part of the force that captured a large Patriot garrison at the key Fort Ninety Six in November 1775. However, Fanning was nearly captured himself in December of that year during the battle at Big Cane Break. Evading the local patriots, Fanning fled to the Cherokee Indians.

The Fort at Ninety Six

Now regarded as a notorious Loyalist, Fanning was captured by the rebels in January 1776. This marked the first of what could be a record 14 times during the war! In some of these instances, he was paroled, but the cunning and relentless Fanning made numerous daring escapes. Between these periods of imprisonment, Fanning demonstrated himself as a ruthless, resourceful, and aggressive Loyalist officer. He tirelessly led partisan units in nearly continuous skirmishes with rebel forces in the region. He was a key figure in the little-known but decisive backwoods civil war that eventually swayed the Carolinians against their British rulers and Loyalist supporters of the crown.

David Fanning made numerous escapes

The Loyalists take a Knee

But by August 1779, most of the Loyalists were losing hope. They had suffered heavy losses, and it seemed like the South would fall to the crown. Many of them, including Fanning, accepted a conditional pardon from Governor John Rutledge. This kept Fanning out of the fighting for several months. Fanning’s many adventures had taken a toll on him. By his own words, he was exhausted, worn out, and looked frail. His numerous wounds and injuries had worn him down. Fanning even agreed to guide Patriot militia units in the backcountry as part of his pardon.

The British capture of Charleston marked a new dynamic in the
southern theater of operations

But things changed when the British shifted their strategy to the south. A British force besieged Charleston, and its fall and occupation led to a British move to secure all the key positions in the state. The decisive defeat of the Continental forces under General Horatio Gates by British General Lord Cornwallis made it clear that the British were here to stay.

The South in Flames

These events reignited the passion of the Loyalists, and they rallied to the cause once more—fanning the flames with them. Bloody civil war erupted again across the southern backwoods, and this time Fanning was at the forefront of the Loyalist effort. With South Carolina under British control and Cornwallis’s army in charge, Fanning and other Loyalist leaders now had a steady flow of weapons and supplies. With the outlook grim for the rebels, Loyalist bands found it easy to recruit and equip fighters.

The Southern Theater would prove Decisive
and violent

This high watermark of Loyalist ascendancy did not last long. One of the American cause’s best generals was sent south to energize the southern theater. Nathanael Green proved a persistent and classic resistance leader. Giving ground when he had to, making stands—successful or not—while keeping his army in the field and active. Cornwallis had to destroy his army. He damaged it, but could not destroy it.

Nathanael Greene's arrival turned the
tide in the Southern Theater

The West is Lost

 Cornwallis would fail to destroy
Greene and make a grave mistake

In his eagerness to pursue the resisting rebel army, Cornwallis used Loyalist units to guard his western flank from Patriot militias threatening it. He dispatched a large Loyalist detachment led by his most experienced counter-guerrilla leader, Major Patrick Ferguson, to disperse the backwoods Patriots. Ferguson was unaware that a large group of "Over Mountain men' was reinforcing the locals. Ferguson was caught on King's Mountain. Surrounded, he fought the hated rebels. The Battle of Kings Mountain was mainly a Loyalist versus Patriot conflict. Defeating the Loyalists shifted the southern theater in the West to the rebels' advantage.

With prospects looking bleak for Loyalists in the West, Fanning took his band and moved east and north to Deep River, North Carolina, where he conducted operations against local patriots. His success led to his appointment as Colonel of the Loyalist militia of Chatham and Randolph counties. For several months, Fanning ruthlessly launched raids throughout western North Carolina. He had now become one of the most feared Loyalist partisan commanders in the region. 

American victory at King's Mountain crushed
the loyal oppositionin the western Carolinas

Guerrilla Days in Carolina

Fanning was a typical guerrilla leader. He would move quickly and strike hard, sometimes with only 12 men. Many of these raids ended with the capture and ransom or parole of key patriot sympathizers and political figures. He took part in about 36 skirmishes in 1781 alone. One of these was a raid on a court session in Chatham County. Fanning’s supporters captured 53 prisoners, including court officials, militia officers, and members of the North Carolina General Assembly.

Fanning's Loyalist militia raised Cain among the patriots

Fanning led the Loyalist militia at the battle at the House in the Horseshoe in the summer of 1781, where he forced the surrender of a Patriot militia force. By the end of that summer, Fanning's notoriety had drawn about 950 Loyalist men to his command. He was ready for the big time.

Conventional War Success… and Failure

With a sizable force at his disposal, Fanning was determined to use it. And he did. On September 12, 1781, he led nearly 1,000 Loyalists in a surprise attack against the rebel forces at Hillsboro, North Carolina. At that time, Hillsboro was the main Patriot base in the region and served as a temporary capital. He overwhelmed the Patriot defenses and captured 200 prisoners, including Governor Thomas Burke. Hillsboro marked his most notable success in the war.

After the victory at Hillsboro, Fanning is ambushed
at Lindley's Mill

But Fanning’s brief success as a traditional force commander did not last long. He led his victorious column, along with prisoners, back to Wilmington. When he reached the area around Lindley’s Mill, a rebel force of 400 under Brigadier General John Butler launched a fierce attack on Fanning’s men. The fighting was intense, and the surprised Loyalist force would have fallen apart if not for Fanning’s personal leadership. He held off Butler’s attacks and managed to bring his column safely to Wilmington, but he was badly wounded in the process. Thanks to Fanning's resolve, the unfortunate Governor Burke was imprisoned by the British Army on James Island near Charleston, South Carolina.

NC Gov Thomas Burke 

Decline in Fortunes

In November 1781, the British withdrew from Wilmington upon news of Yorktown. The war seemed over, but the Loyalists who remained with the colors would not surrender so easily. The bitter civil war left many desperate for revenge and unwilling to compromise or submit to the rebels they despised. Fanning was one of them. He continued leading partisan bands against the patriots. He launched a series of bitter attacks on patriot settlements that persisted into 1782—most of us consider that year one of quiet as the final treaty was negotiated.

Loyalist Provisionals

But Fanning was tired and worn out. The clever backwoodsman saw the signs of change. It was time to go back to a normal life. As a first step toward that, he married Sarah Carr, a 16-year-old young woman from the settlement of Deep River, North Carolina.

Charleston Harbor would provide many Loyalists'
final glimpse of the country the fought so hard to keep loyal

Fanning finally accepted a conditional truce from the local American government and agreed to suspend further military action. Now resigned to his fate and that of his cause, Fanning and his young bride went to Charleston, where he was deported along with other Loyalists to British Florida. Fanning’s success against the patriots and his notoriety as a guerrilla caused the North Carolina legislature to ban him from ever entering the state. This seems a bitter reminder of his accomplishments.

Oh Canada!

Like many other members of the Loyalist diaspora, Fanning did not stay long in his first refuge. After a few months, he traveled to New Brunswick, Canada—one of thousands who moved there for a better life under the crown. His natural leadership earned him a seat in the legislative assembly until he became involved in a shocking scandal in 1800. Fanning was charged and convicted of raping 15-year-old Sarah London and was sentenced to hang. The evidence against him was limited—mainly her testimony—but Fanning had few friends among his Loyalist peers. The fierce man from the hills had brought his fiery ways to Canada. He appealed the sentence, and instead of being hanged, he was banished from New Brunswick.

Canada provided refuge for many Loyalists
after the American Revolution

Fanning proved resourceful when given a second chance. He moved to the small port town of Digby, Nova Scotia. Fanning spent the rest of his life in Digby. He built a comfortable house and engaged in farming, fishing, and shipbuilding. Although he still wanted to return to New Brunswick to settle his financial affairs, his petitions to Thomas Carleton, Provincial Secretary Jonathan Odell, and other officials went unanswered.

Digby, Nova Scotia, was one of many
Loyalist landing places  in Canada

In any case, considering his eight years of fighting and mayhem, the loyal and steadfast David Fanning managed to live to a reasonably old age. He died on March 14, 1825.

A Loyal Life Well Lived?

The tough and wiry, Fanning was a stubborn and determined man in both war and peace. As a Loyalist militia leader, he proved zealous and often highly effective. However, he was neither gentle nor the type of intellectual loyalist, refined and smug, who sat out the war in the secure comforts of New York, Charleston, or England. Instead, Fanning fought tenaciously, fiercely, and sometimes cruelly against former friends and neighbors. Rather than earning admiration, his successes made him unpopular with the privileged Loyalist gentry of New Brunswick.

But the last laugh and irony from this angry and combative former hillbilly was his epitaph in the Trinity churchyard at Digby: “Humane, affable, gentle, and kind – A plain honest open moral mind.”

Colonel David Fanning resting place
in Digby, Nova Scotia

In my take, it should have read: “I’m Loyal – Love it or Shove it.”